Ohio hospitals 'pause' Biden vaccine mandate as COVID patients strain ICUs
Ohio Health denied pause was due solely to staffing shortages
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ohio hospitals are "pausing" the vaccine mandate for health care workers as the hospitalization rate for COVID-19 patients statewide drastically soars – though most facilities there still support the Biden administration's federal mandate, which will likely make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
OhioHealth – a system of 12 hospitals across the state of Ohio – rejected that the pause of the mandate for its employees was due solely to staffing shortages, as spokesman Colin Yoder told Fox News Digital that its "more do to the things going through the legislature and the courts right now."
A panel of judges on the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit of Appeals delivered a decision Wednesday that kept a preliminary injunction in place for Biden’s vaccine mandate for health care workers for 14 states, including Ohio. But their decision also altered the Nov. 30 ruling by U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty that blocked the vaccine mandate nationwide, meaning it can be forced in half the country.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The appeals court panel noted that the matter will likely make it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"We believe, like the majority of health systems nationwide, that requiring the vaccine is the right thing to do to protect our patients and staff from COVID-19 and are moving forward with our decision to require the COVID-19 vaccine or have an approved medical or religious exemption," OhioHealth said in a statement. "Our process was developed to ensure compliance with state and federal law."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Ohio Hospital Association tracked a more than 50% increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations over the past 60 days. (Stephen Zenner/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
"However, given the recent regulatory and legislative issues we are pausing our timeline," it said. "We are not changing our mandate process, but we are pausing on the timeline at this point."
The Ohio Hospital Association, which has member hospitals statewide, tracked a more than 50% increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations over the past 60 days. The ICU 60-day change has increased by 30%, with one in four patients in the ICUs being COVID-19 positive and receiving COVID-19 treatment, John Palmer, OHA director of Media and Public Relations, told Fox News Digital by phone.
At least three of the Ohio Hospital Association’s members, meanwhile, have moved to pause the implementation of the vaccine mandate for their health care employees. But Palmer said that move came in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announcement that they were pausing enforcement due to pending litigation – not to any reactions by staff members.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}More than 760 patients are on ventilators in Ohio hospitals this week, Palmer said, which requires 24-7 care and demands more hospital resources related to equipment, materials and bed space. Palmer also detailed how health care workers are experiencing "burnout" related to a 22-month, roughly two-year pandemic operation with high capacity in particular months.
Ohio has seen about five surges of COVID-19 cases throughout the pandemic so far, he said.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Biden in November issued an executive order requiring all health care workers at facilities participating in Medicare or Medicaid to be fully vaccinated with either two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson by Jan. 4.
The rule would apply to more than 17 million workers at approximately 76,000 health care facilities, including hospitals and long-term care facilities, according to the Biden administration.